A baby in need of urgent hospital treatment has been flown from Tyneside to a specialist hospital.

Tynemouth Volunteer Life Brigade played a vital role in the operation to take the seven-month-old boy from Newcastle's Freeman Hospital landing site to the West Midlands.

A Sea King helicopter from RAF Boulmer in Northumberland rushed the infant to Birmingham Children's Hospital.

Two volunteers were called in shortly before 7pm on Thursday to help co-ordinate the mercy mission. They had to clear a field next to the hospital of a football game so the helicopter could land. The crew of four left shortly before 9pm.

The Tyneside volunteers relayed information from the ground to North Tyneside coastguard which linked with RAF Kinloss in Scotland, from where coastal helicopter operations around the country are co-ordinated.

The volunteers carry out such help about once a month, a coastguard watch manager said.